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http://students.smcm.edu/jkdrolet/getLost/getLostHome.html
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Event Review: Visiting Artist Kate McCammon
Artist Kate McCammon visited our school to give a talk about her experiences abroad and how they impacted her work. Kate has had various experiences travelling abroad to pursue her art career, first studying in Norway and then moving on to locales like Venice, Florence, and Sorento. Her art style has evolved significantly since she began travelling abroad, going from a hyper-textured large portrait style to a smaller, more abstract style.
McCammon started her art career doing large portraits of people she knew; she found that others in her classes criticized the thick textures of her work as taking away from the overall effect. After travelling abroad for the first time in Norway, she began doing work with less powerful paint texture, as well as working with smaller canvases. After her next visit abroad to Sorento, she began doing work with landscapes, finding that they drew her in more than she thought they would, having previously been attached to portraits. She would do more landscape work in Florence.
After several trips abroad, McCammon found it difficult to paint at home without the inspiration of the landscapes she had had abroad. She began doing work with old photo negatives as a basis, and eventually began working on a series of light blue on black silhouette paintings, a project which is still ongoing and is now inspired by original photos as well as negatives. Her art has come a long way since her original realistic portraits, evolving into a style all her own which she has only been able to achieve through her studies abroad and the influences she received there.
McCammon started her art career doing large portraits of people she knew; she found that others in her classes criticized the thick textures of her work as taking away from the overall effect. After travelling abroad for the first time in Norway, she began doing work with less powerful paint texture, as well as working with smaller canvases. After her next visit abroad to Sorento, she began doing work with landscapes, finding that they drew her in more than she thought they would, having previously been attached to portraits. She would do more landscape work in Florence.
After several trips abroad, McCammon found it difficult to paint at home without the inspiration of the landscapes she had had abroad. She began doing work with old photo negatives as a basis, and eventually began working on a series of light blue on black silhouette paintings, a project which is still ongoing and is now inspired by original photos as well as negatives. Her art has come a long way since her original realistic portraits, evolving into a style all her own which she has only been able to achieve through her studies abroad and the influences she received there.
Event Review: Assassin's Creed 3 Talk
I recently attended a talk about Assassin's Creed 3, in which topics involving the art and historical accuracy were discussed. Although the talk did not discuss the art as much as would have been hoped as far as the technical aspects, the accuracy of the art was discussed. The talk focused more on the historical accuracy of the game, both through events and through appearance of the game.
Historically, Assassin's Creed 3 stayed fairly true to the events upon which it is based, although clearly some liberties had to be taken in order to make an interesting game. The assassination targets were largely killed around the same time that they were known to have died, and when possible around the same location. The settings were also fairly accurate, the buildings and clothing being largely representative of the time period. The clothing on soldiers was somewhat exaggerated, most soldiers of the time not actually having formal uniforms, but artistically it was period accurate. All and all, the game does the time period justice from a design standpoint.
The main character of the game, while in some ways a stereotype, was also somewhat period accurate. A native american-colonist multiracial child would not have been out of the question at the time; in fact, this happened fairly often. Some might question his way of speaking as "stereotypical" of the common perception of a native american, but one of the creators of the game said they discussed the character with native americans as well as doing research into primary sources and no objections were made. The biggest stereotype I saw in this character was the concept of being connected to animals and the wild, as well as his stealth tactics, although the latter could be attributed to assassin training and not to the traditional native american stereotypes.
Historically, Assassin's Creed 3 stayed fairly true to the events upon which it is based, although clearly some liberties had to be taken in order to make an interesting game. The assassination targets were largely killed around the same time that they were known to have died, and when possible around the same location. The settings were also fairly accurate, the buildings and clothing being largely representative of the time period. The clothing on soldiers was somewhat exaggerated, most soldiers of the time not actually having formal uniforms, but artistically it was period accurate. All and all, the game does the time period justice from a design standpoint.
The main character of the game, while in some ways a stereotype, was also somewhat period accurate. A native american-colonist multiracial child would not have been out of the question at the time; in fact, this happened fairly often. Some might question his way of speaking as "stereotypical" of the common perception of a native american, but one of the creators of the game said they discussed the character with native americans as well as doing research into primary sources and no objections were made. The biggest stereotype I saw in this character was the concept of being connected to animals and the wild, as well as his stealth tactics, although the latter could be attributed to assassin training and not to the traditional native american stereotypes.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Artist Review: Web Designer Kardo Ayoub
In the artist's words, his webdesign focuses on "usability, accessibility, and attention to small details." In general, his webdesign is simplistic but not plain, combining interesting graphics with a simple, usable user interface. Oftentimes, but not always, his interfaces are split up by columns. He does, however, have a few interesting designs made that are less rigid, with buttons over an image background or a more rounded design.
In general, Cardo's websites are the kind of sites I like to see, especially when visiting a business. They get to the point, keeping the interface usable while still being engaging. I especially enjoy the graphical component to the sites, which keeps the websites from seeming boring or generic, both of which can be potential turnoff for clients or other visitors to the website. While some web designers might value a more complex interface, I think that the simple format of Cardo's designs makes for both more usable and more engaging viewing.
Source used:
Cardo Ayoub's Website: http://www.kardoayoub.co.uk/
Monday, April 1, 2013
Vito Acconci Reading: Paragraph Analysis
Paragraph 18:
"The built environment is built because it's been allowed to be built. It's been allowed to be built because it stands for and reflects an institution or a dominant culture. The budget for architecture is a hundred times the budget for public art because a building provides jobs and products and services that augment the finances of a city. Public art comes in through the back door like a second-class citizen. Instead of bemoaning this, public art can use this marginal position to its advantage: public art can present itself as the voice of marginal cultures, as the minority report, as the opposition part. Public art exists to thicken the plot."
This paragraph, while short, makes an interesting point about public art. It first says that public art is not supported nearly as much as architecture or other such structure because it does not provide a service or other practical reason for its existence like said architecture. However, Acconici says this is not a bad thing. He says that because public art is somewhat pushed to the side, it is free to represent views and cultures that are also pushed to the side instead of only focusing on the mainstream culture, unlike architecture which is supported for the sole reason of supporting popular opinion and culture. As he says, "Public are exists to thicken the plot", adding flavor and substance to a space and media that would otherwise be bland and altogether too consistent in nature to remain interesting. For this reason, public art will constantly be changing, with the last "generation" of art sometimes developing into mainstream while a new "generation" will begin to represent the new non-standard cultures and ideas of the time.
"The built environment is built because it's been allowed to be built. It's been allowed to be built because it stands for and reflects an institution or a dominant culture. The budget for architecture is a hundred times the budget for public art because a building provides jobs and products and services that augment the finances of a city. Public art comes in through the back door like a second-class citizen. Instead of bemoaning this, public art can use this marginal position to its advantage: public art can present itself as the voice of marginal cultures, as the minority report, as the opposition part. Public art exists to thicken the plot."
This paragraph, while short, makes an interesting point about public art. It first says that public art is not supported nearly as much as architecture or other such structure because it does not provide a service or other practical reason for its existence like said architecture. However, Acconici says this is not a bad thing. He says that because public art is somewhat pushed to the side, it is free to represent views and cultures that are also pushed to the side instead of only focusing on the mainstream culture, unlike architecture which is supported for the sole reason of supporting popular opinion and culture. As he says, "Public are exists to thicken the plot", adding flavor and substance to a space and media that would otherwise be bland and altogether too consistent in nature to remain interesting. For this reason, public art will constantly be changing, with the last "generation" of art sometimes developing into mainstream while a new "generation" will begin to represent the new non-standard cultures and ideas of the time.
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